The new streaming service HBO Max launches this Wednesday.
So what’s the content? Well, it’s all of HBO Go/Now content, plus more exclusive stuff.
This C|Net article had a pretty good summary:
There’s a lot of stuff in that article, here’s the part about the exclusives:
Movies will be a crucial part of the catalog. And any movie that’s available to watch on the traditional HBO network will also be available to stream on HBO Max. Highlights of the HBO Max film catalog will include (but not necessarily be available at launch):
The so-called Snyder cut of Justice League, slated to arrive on HBO Max in 2021
The full sets of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix trilogies.
The Lego movies.
DC films like Joker, Wonder Woman, Suicide Squad, Shazam, Aquaman and every Batman and Superman movie of the last 40 years.
Studio Ghibli anime films that have never been released for streaming in the US before.
Anime selections like Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and other top titles from anime-focused streaming service Crunchyroll, which is also owned by AT&T.
Classic movies like The Wizard of Oz, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Gone With the Wind, The Shining, Singin’ in the Rain, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Goonies, Blade Runner: The Final Cut, the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise and many others.
Newer hits like Crazy Rich Asians and A Star Is Born.
Ultimately, HBO Max will have more than 18,000 movies, the company has said.
On top of that, AT&T has been licensing outside hit shows to beef up HBO Max’s catalog. The most most eye-popping deals have been:
A reported $425 million deal for all episodes of '90s hit Friends , which exited Netflix to start streaming on HBO Max at launch
A reported $500 million deal to stream The Big Bang Theory
It’s also secured deals for past seasons of Rick and Morty; 11 of the most recent seasons of Doctor Who , plus another three to come; CW dramas like Pretty Little Liars, Batwoman, and Riverdale spinoff Katy Keene as well as more upcoming CW series; The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air; The West Wing; and British series like Luther and Ricky Gervais’ original The Office, among many others.
Animated satire South Park will not only contribute its full back catalog to HBO Max but also stream new episodes. The latest episodes of South Park will stream on HBO Max 24 hours after they air on Comedy Central for the next three seasons.
And HBO Max will have exclusive new shows and movies called Max Originals. For the most part, original series on HBO Max will drop new episodes on a weekly basis.
At launch Wednesday, the originals will be:
Love Life, the romantic comedy starring Anna Kendrick and produced by Kendrick and Paul Feig, known for blockbuster comedies like Bridesmaids
On the Record, a controversial Me Too documentary film about record executive Russell Simmons.
Legendary, a competition show based on underground drag balls.
Craftopia, a YouTuber-hosted craft series.
New Looney Tunes cartoons.
The Not Too Late Show with Elmo.
After launch, the next Max Originals that are scheduled for release are:
Karma, an unscripted kids adventure competition series – June 18.
Doom Patrol, the second season of the DC Universe series – June 25.
Esme & Roy, the second season of the preschool animated series from Sesame Workshop – June 25.
Search Party, the third season of the comedy thriller that originally aired on TBS – June 25.
Adventure Time: Distant Lands-BMO, which is the first of four specials resurrecting Cartoon Network’s franchise Adventure Time – June 25.
Expecting Amy, a three-part docuseries about comedian Amy Schumer’s life on tour during her pregnancy – July 9.
Close Enough, an animated comedy about millennial roommates – July 9.
The House of Ho, a multigenerational family docusoap – July 16.
Tig n’ Seek, an animated children’s series from Cartoon Network Studios about an 8-year-old and his gadget-building cat – July 23.
Frayed, a scripted comedy about a wealthy Londoner who goes back to her Australian hometown – July 30.
The Dog House, an unscripted British animal rescue series – July 30.
American Pickle, the Seth Rogen comedy that is HBO Max’s first original film, about a 1920s immigrant who gets preserved in pickle brine for 100 years and meets his great-grandson (both characters portrayed by Rogen) in modern-day Brooklyn – Aug. 6.
Then over the course of the fall and beyond, HBO Max will add other originals, including:
The Flight Attendant, starring and executive produced by Kaley Cuoco based on the novel by Chris Bohjalian.
The Friends unscripted cast reunion special.
Sci-fi epic Raised by Wolves from director and executive producer Ridley Scott. The 10-episode series focuses on two androids raising human children on a mysterious planet. The show had already wrapped production in South Africa.
HBO Max originally planned to have 31 original series in its launch year (which totals 69 series when combined with HBO content). Then in 2021, HBO Max planned to expand Max Originals to a slate of 50 shows. About half are targeted at young adults aged 16 to 34, and the rest will be divided between more adult fare and kids and family content outside the HBO brand.
Some of the other highlights of the originals set for HBO Max include:
New DC titles. A Green Lantern series that producer Greg Berlanti (a young-adult TV guru behind Riverdale and Arrow) says will travel to space and “promises to be our biggest DC show ever made.” Strange Adventures , a one-hour drama anthology series also produced by Berlanti that explores the intersecting lives of mortals and superhumans. DC Super Hero High will be a half-hour comedy from Elizabeth Banks, the producer and actress known for the Hunger Games films and 30 Rock, that’ll focus on a group of adolescent students at a boarding school for “gifted” kids.
Projects by J.J. Abrams. Abrams, known for a parade of television and box office hits, signed a megadeal with AT&T and WarnerMedia to make projects for the company. On HBO Max, he’ll help produce a show set in the Justice League Dark universe ; Overlook, a thriller based on Stephen King’s The Shining and set in the Overlook Hotel; and a 1970s crime show called Duster.
A half-hour comedy from actress-producer Issa Rae. Rae’s Rap Sh*t explores the music business in Miami through the eyes of three women: an upstart hip-hop duo and their hustling manager.
A half-hour comedy from actress/producer Mindy Kaling. College Girls (a working title) tracks three 18-year-old freshman roommates at Evermore College in Vermont.
The Boondocks animated series is getting “two reimagined seasons” along with a 50-minute special originally planned for fall 2020.
A new Jellystone animated series with the classic Hanna-Barbera characters from Warner Bros. Animation.
A new animated series from Cartoon Network Studios called The Fungies, as well as a hybrid live-action/animated comedy, Tooned Out, from Oscar-winning director Robert Zemeckis.
Comedy specials from Conan O’Brien and the team behind his TBS show. They’ll be developing five stand-up specials for HBO Max: O’Brien will host two specials that feature short sets from multiple up-and-coming comics and curate hourlong sets from three comedians. That slate will join another one-hour special from comedian James Veitch.
The service will have a smaller slate of original films, between five and 10 per year, according to the original plan. Early highlights on the original movie slate include:
A two-picture deal with Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine.
A documentary about Anthony Bourdain.
A four-picture deal with Berlanti, including Unpregnant, about two teenage girls who go on a road trip to New Mexico after one finds out she’s pregnant, based on the young adult novel by Jenni Hendriks and Ted Caplan.
Super Intelligence, a comedy starring Melissa McCarthy about a woman whose romantic life is selected for observation by artificial intelligence.
Bobbie Sue, a comedy feature starring Jane the Virgin’s Gina Rodriguez as an up-and-coming young lawyer who joins a stuffy Boston law firm.
A billion dollars seems like a lot to pay for two TV shows, but I guess they have math saying it’s worth it. Anyway, I highly recommend Search Party for those who haven’t watched it, unless you have a total aversion to watching unlikeable characters. Its season one finale is one of the most perfect episodes of TV I’ve ever seen. Everyone knows about HBO classics like The Wire and The Sopranos, but The Leftovers is worthy of inclusion in the same breath and is still super underrated despite its widespread acclaim.
I guess I’ll sub for at least a month in late June.
They got Keep your Hands Off Eizouken as one of their animes. Watch that.
It’s extremely unfortunate they’ve got the Cartoon Network and Adult Swim rights, because they’ve got exactly nothing else I care about (at least not out of this list), and a couple of things (BBT in particular) that I’d pay good money to wipe from existence.
Yeah, $425M for Friends boggles my mind. I’m surprised it’s held so much value. I guess the teens and 20-somethings who loved it at the time are now comfortable adults with money to spend.
I dislike Friends and never understood its mass appeal, but… it has a lot.
Just look at this map
Delawareans are still watching GoT despite how the series ended?
That map makes a hell of a case for HBO’s acquisitions, between the number of states watching Friends and the number watching Rick and Morty.
I already pay and I am mostly happy with it. No mention of 4K on the new channel though. So I assume it’s not going to support it. That is starting to become a sticking point. On the other hand, I absolutely loved The Watchmen series and some of my all time favorite shows were on HBO. Lately, their series are a lot more misses than hits though. I just want more from them for the money at this point.
I love the Muppets, but the Elmo late night show looks horrendous (and I hate the voice).
Nesrie
May 24, 2020, 4:59am
11
Clearly the Pacific Northwest is just awesome.
Friends has to be the most profitable TV show ever.
Could they have made that map any harder to read. I thought my eyes had failed.
Not just his voice, but I think over the years the camera has slowly gotten closer and closer to his face until it takes up the entire frame.
I know Friends is huge so I’m not doubting its popularity, I’m just questioning the decision making that says it’s worth that much money. But, again, I guess HBO has a financial calculus saying that it is.
A weird thing is that it’s not just nostalgic gen-xers watching Friends. For whatever reason, it’s massive among today’s teenagers and twentysomethings. It’s managed to keep a cross-generational cultural relevancy in a way that, say, Seinfeld hasn’t—a show I love(d) which Netflix reportedly spent even more money to acquire rights to, although I never hear anyone under 30 talk about it other than to complain about how out of touch Jerry Seinfeld himself is.
Montana and Vampire Diaries are about the least expected pairing ever.
A lot of people apparently watch Friends and The Office (American version) all the time, leaving it on in the background all day long.
I really don’t get it either. Friends was never a great show, even when it was new. The Office was great in both incarnations, but it rewards close watching to catch them giving the camera the side-eye and longing glances between Jim and Pam and whatnot.
So Missouri is tied with Ozark and…Fresh Prince of Bel Air? Fresh Prince? Seriously?
Maps like that must really make creators of new shows despair.
Matt_W
May 27, 2020, 5:01am
20
HBO Max is not available on Roku. Fail.
